Mary Shaw's puppet-like mouth unleashed a swarm of tentacles, with a barbed, spiky tongue shooting out from the center.
Roy reacted lightning-fast, ducking to dodge the tongue as it lashed toward him.
When the attack missed, Mary Shaw quickly retracted her tongue, trying to wrap it around Roy's neck.
No way was Roy letting that slimy, spiked tongue touch him. He ducked low and hurled the Mary Shaw puppet across the room.
The puppet slammed hard into the ground. Its body, crafted from a witch's corpse, wasn't exactly sturdy to begin with.
Already crushed under a giant puppet earlier and now smashed by Roy, parts of the shell cracked and broke off.
But that didn't slow Mary Shaw down. The damaged areas sprouted fresh, red flesh almost instantly.
Logically, Mary Shaw had been dead for decades—her corpse shouldn't be doing this. And Roy swore he'd seen something like this before.
The puppet sprawled on the floor, its limbs stretching unnaturally, its mouth gaping impossibly wide as tiny red tentacles sprouted inside.
Then came a piercing shriek, followed by a familiar whispering in Roy's ears.
The Seed of Silence!
Its presence confirmed Roy's suspicions about the Hook Man's origins.
As far as Roy knew, only the Cabin organization used the Seed of Silence (he wasn't there when Leonard Wolfe used it, so he didn't know about that). That meant the Hook Man was definitely with the Cabin.
And the Hook Man's reckless style? Totally in line with the Cabin's lawless vibe.
"Damn Cabin again!" Roy growled, glaring at the puppet, his knife at the ready.
Things were different now. This wasn't the Crystal Lake days when Roy barely beat Jason after a grueling fight. He was stronger now.
The Seed of Silence in Mary Shaw's puppet finished its first evolution, charging at Roy with a wave of mental corruption.
Roy, in his Ghost Wolf form, sidestepped the puppet's lunge with ease, grabbing one of its legs.
Then came the classic beatdown, courtesy of Roy's signature slam-and-smash move.
(Shoutout to action choreographer Dr. Bruce Banner.)
After a thorough thrashing, even the Seed-controlled puppet was dazed and battered.
Roy raised his execution blade, entered his finisher state, and effortlessly pierced the Seed's core. The Mary Shaw puppet went limp, done for.
"Didn't expect that to be so easy," Roy muttered.
The Seed of Silence had crazy potential—it could mutate endlessly based on its enemy and environment, evolving indefinitely with enough food. But its baseline strength depended on the host.
That's why Jason, when possessed by the Seed, had overpowered Roy back then. But this Mary Shaw puppet? Roy curb-stomped it.
The puppet theater returned to normal. With Mary Shaw's evil spirit gone, the spectral space had dissipated.
Roy rushed back to Jamie's seat, only to find a puppet that looked eerily like her.
Damn it!
Jamie had been taken!
No way Mary Shaw could turn someone into a puppet that fast. It had to be her and the Hook Man—they grabbed Jamie and left this puppet to taunt him.
This theater trip was a bust. All Roy did was take out one Seed of Silence. Mary Shaw and the Hook Man got away, and Jamie was gone.
The only silver lining? He found Jennifer's soul.
Mary Shaw probably wanted Roy to destroy Jennifer's soul himself, hoping it'd break him.
But Roy's True Sight let him see Jennifer's soul, ruining Mary Shaw's plan.
He pulled the puppet from his inventory, trying to use his Solomon's Key knowledge to break Mary Shaw's magic.
Her spells were too modern and complex for Roy, a half-baked demon wizard, to crack.
Not wanting to risk Jennifer's soul, he gave up for now. He'd get Lilith, the pro, to handle it later.
"Hold on, Jennifer," Roy said, tucking the puppet back into his inventory.
He started searching the theater's backstage. This was Mary Shaw's workplace and home—maybe he'd find something useful.
Behind the stage, Roy spotted a wall with a visual trick.
It looked like a dead end, but stepping closer revealed a corner. Keep going, and there was a staircase to an attic.
That attic was Mary Shaw's living space.
Roy, having seen the movie, found it easily.
The attic was littered with puppet parts—eyeballs in jars, limbs strewn about. If you didn't look closely, you'd think it was a murder scene.
There was the big cabinet from the movie, meant to hold puppets. It was empty now—Roy had sliced up all the puppets, freeing their souls.
Too bad Michael and Rachel didn't show up to check on his big win. Maybe they were grounded or something.
"Jackpot!" Roy said, digging through Mary Shaw's bedroom and finding a stack of notes.
They detailed how to make puppets and bind souls to them.
With this, even without Mary Shaw, Lilith might be able to craft a proper vessel.
Roy was done with that old hag. Next time he saw her, he'd teach her how to be a proper ghost.
After scouring the place, Roy figured the theater had nothing left to offer. He left.
It was almost dusk. As Roy drove off, he didn't know someone was still lurking in the theater.
Once he was gone, they slipped back into the wrecked auditorium, picking up something from where Roy had fought.
"Mr. Black, where to?" the driver asked.
"Straight to Jamie's house!"
Since he didn't catch Mary Shaw at the theater, it was time to play his trump card.
Back in Ravensfall, at Jamie's house, the sun had nearly set, with just a sliver of sunset glow on the horizon.
Roy didn't knock. He kicked the door open and stormed in.
The house was dark, except for a light in the dining room and the sound of voices.
"Ella, this soup's amazing!" a man said.
"Edward, glad you like it. Have some more!" a woman replied.
In the dining room, Ella was feeding soup to Jamie's dad, Edward, the two looking like a picture-perfect couple.
You'd never guess they were both puppets.
Roy's sudden entrance startled them.
"Mr. Black, you're back!" Ella said. "Where's Jamie? Edward and I thought you two weren't coming home for dinner."
Ella's voice had that same poised, slightly seductive charm from earlier.
Roy gave her a knowing smirk. "Mrs. Ashton, don't you know exactly where Jamie is?"
Ella blinked, feigning confusion. "Mr. Black, what do you mean?"
Her acting was Oscar-worthy. Madison had nothing on her.
Roy's smirk vanished. He strode toward Ella.
Panic flickered in her eyes.
She couldn't help it. Edward could move his head and talk, but he wasn't a fully conscious puppet.
His body was hollowed out. Ella controlled his head by reaching into a hole in his back.
His voice? Ventriloquism.
Anyone standing behind Edward would see it instantly.
"Mr. Black, what are you doing?" Ella stood to block him, but Roy shoved her to the floor.
He glanced at Edward's back. There was the hole, with a small bowl where his stomach should've been, holding the soup Ella had just fed him.
Roy turned to Ella, his gaze ice-cold. "Mrs. Ashton, anything else to say?"
Ella lay on the floor, her loose dress slipping off her shoulder, revealing a modest chest.
She didn't answer or fix her dress. Instead, she slipped into a self-pitying trance.
"Men are all the same," she muttered.
Roy blinked. "What?"
Was this turning into a prime-time soap opera?
"Mrs. Ashton, what are you talking about?"
Ella looked up, eyes red, tears glistening. "Mr. Black, do you know why I did this?"
"I don't care," Roy said flatly.
But Ella spilled her story anyway.
She married Edward two years ago. Things were happy at first, but Edward's true colors soon showed.
Jamie's suspicions were right—her mom's death was tied to Edward.
Edward had a nasty temper, especially when drunk, and couldn't control himself.
How else do you explain three marriages? Once or twice, sure, but three? That's a pattern.
About a year ago, Ella got pregnant with Edward's kid.
But one night, during a fight, Edward pushed her down the stairs.
Ella survived, but the baby didn't.
Heartbroken, Ella stumbled across Mary Shaw's story.
Maybe out of revenge, she dug up Mary Shaw's grave, broke the exorcist's seal, and unleashed the evil spirit.
That's what kicked off the Dead Silence事件.
(This was DVD bonus content, not in the main plot. Probably cut because Wan thought it was too soap-opera-y.)
But Ella didn't expect Mary Shaw's vengeance to target her first.
As the wife of the Ashton family patriarch, Ella was prime prey. Mary Shaw possessed her and turned her into the first "perfect" puppet.
Talk about melodramatic.
Roy rolled his eyes. It was like watching a bad soap opera.
But then he thought—Edward must be in great shape to get Ella pregnant at his age.
Unless…
Roy grabbed Ella's neck, lifting her off the ground.
Her skin was cold. No trace of humanity. She was definitely a puppet.
"So, what's your point?" Roy demanded.
"Kill me, Mr. Black," Ella pleaded. "I should've died with my baby. Then I wouldn't be suffering like this. I can't feel pain, warmth, hunger, or sleep. I'm just a puppet!"
Her eyes screamed despair. She clearly didn't want to keep existing like this.
Mary Shaw must've blocked her from killing herself, forcing her to linger as a puppet.
Gotta admit, that's rough.
But Roy wasn't about to let her off just because her story was sad.
"Tell me where Mary Shaw's hiding," he said. "Do that, and I'll give you a dignified end."
Ella's eyes lit up with hope, but it faded fast. "Mr. Black, she put some evil spell on me. I can't say anything about her."
Roy frowned. Of course Mary Shaw wouldn't leave such an obvious loose end.
No problem. He had a plan.
Mary Shaw was still in Ravensfall, hiding with the Hook Man.
The Hook Man was a master at staying hidden. He'd figured out Roy's tracking abilities and used some trick to cloak Mary Shaw, even from Roy's Hellhound specter.
But Ella was Mary Shaw's creation, still carrying her magic.
That meant a connection between Mary Shaw's soul and Ella. If Roy could tap into it, he could track her down.
"Turn around," Roy ordered. "Take off your clothes."
Silently, Ella turned and let her black dress fall, revealing a curvaceous figure.
Gotta say, aside from a less-than-impressive chest, she had it going on—hourglass waist, long legs, and a rear that could prop up a phone.
From behind, she was pure temptation.
Man, what a waste not to get a massage with a back like that.